The Ultimate Bucket List

If you love biking, probably the first thing you will add on your bucket list is joining the annual Tour de France. Tour de France is where you can either cycle in the event’s routes or just watchthe world’s top riders compete for the top prize. Basically, it is like the Super Bowl in cycling, although more costly. A week-long trip can cost the participant more than $6,000. This trip includes 5 star accommodations, a prime spot on the roadside where you will be watching unobstructed from the crowd, and even a private skybox to watch the race the following day. And, of course, this would not be a trip without the sumptuous meals and the best French champagne!

9. Explore Antarctica

Antarctica remains one of the most unexplored continents in the world and a short trip to the South Pole will surely be a lifetime’s adventure. One of the most trusted tour operators in Antarctica is the Polar Explorers, which has been operating guided polar explorations for two decades already with impeccable safety record. We don’t need to tell you that this costs an arm and leg!

8. Machu Picchu

Peru’s lost city of the Incas is a magical, captivating place. Built in the 15th century for the Incan Emperor Pachacuti, it lay hidden beneath jungle and mountain mist for five centuries. To catch a glimpse of this stunning collection of temples and palaces as the sun rises is a spiritual experience that deserves the No.1 spot in anyone’s travel bucket list ideas.

7. Snorkeling in the Galpagos islands

Water is the prime attraction when you visit the Galapagos Islands. Located 600 miles west of Ecuador, it’s one of the ultimate travel destinations and should be in your bucket list if snorkeling is your passion. Nowhere else can an underwater dip give you a chance to catch a glimpse of a penguin, dance with a sea lion and have a close encounter with marine iguana. It’s equally suitable for surfing, biking, fishing, kayaking and horseback riding.

6. View the Aurora Borealis

The lure of Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights, is timeless. In the Arctic Circle, above 60 degrees latitude, the most extraordinarily colorful sunset, in the most inhospitable place on earth, is created as particles in space are sucked into the earth’s magnetic field. Best experienced around the spring and autumn equinoxes, the Northern Lights are a dazzling, dizzying addition to a bucket list.

5. Take a canopy tour in Costa Rica

In recent years, Costa Rica has been at the forefront of green vacations and has plenty to offer the eco-traveler, but whether you’re environmentally conscious or not, there are few adventures to compare with a trip through the canopy (the upper-most layer) of a tropical rain forest. Watch in awe as howler monkeys sweep through the trees and a mass of colorful birdlife goes about their daily business. If you’re game enough, take the zipline option.

4. Hobnob with the Hobbits in New Zealand

If you are a Lord of the Rings fan, a visit to Hobbiton in Matamata, New Zealand is a priority for your travel bucket list. Here you can tour the movie sets used for The Shire in the movie trilogy. Have refreshments at The Green Dragon Inn, which is open to tourists, and from The Shires Store you can pick up some souvenirs to take away.

3. Meander in Myanmar

Vastly underrated, almost entirely unexplored and gloriously untouched, Myanmar (aka Burma) is an effervescent delight with an untapped glory of natural treasures, incredible historical gems and astounding scenery. To travel to a place that has stood almost completely still in time, and to have a chance to experience first-hand the unknown delights surrounded by evidence of a chaotic, humbling and turbulent past would be a once in a life time travel opportunity indeed.

2. Linger at Lake Baikal, Russia

Lake Baikal is the oldest and deepest lake in the world and is located in Siberia, just north of the Mongolian border. In an increasingly modernizing world, the lake is an example of pristine wilderness that has largely been untouched by man. Its isolation and location within the taiga also make it a refuge for unique wildlife. For a nature lover, few destinations can match Lake Baikal in terms of sheer beauty and there is perhaps no better place in the world to experience such an open and vast wilderness.

1.Go Truffle hunting in Croatia

Food is very often at the heart of a trip and it’s a lot of fun if you can get involved in sourcing your meal. Truffles are one of our most elusive (and expensive) ingredients. Although found in various places around Europe, a truffle hunt in the Motovun Forest of Croatia is a marvelous experience. Sitting in the heart of the exquisite Istrian peninsula, make your base in the hilltop town of Motovun and set out with on a quest for the black gold with expert (and licensed) truffle hunters.